The Blood Will Dry

by Mary, Kate L.

  I shifted and so did Daisy, and I didn’t have to look at her to know that she was wide awake now because I could hear her heavy breathing and knew she was trying to keep calm. The thing was alone and the hive was asleep. This could be our only chance. I had to move now. Had to take the shot.

  I closed my hand over hers, giving it a squeeze as the bug moved to set the man down. “It’s going to be okay.”

  She nodded even though she didn’t believe it any more than I did.

  I released her hand and shifted so I was on my knees, preparing myself. I didn’t know yet if this thing was only dropping the man off or coming for one of us as well, but I knew I couldn’t let it get the jump on me this time. I wouldn’t let the bastard sink its claws into me without a fight.

  “We can do this,” I said in a low voice, hoping that if the alien was able to hear me it wouldn’t understand.

  Daisy moved and I glanced over long enough to see that she was up on her knees as well. She was trembling, but I knew her well enough to know that she would fight until the bitter end. If she could. That was the problem. Once this thing got its claws into us we would be useless. Unable to move or fight or do anything but submit. It wasn’t in me to submit. Ever.

  “Don’t let it get too close.” I inched back, grabbing Daisy’s arm so she moved with me but not taking my eyes off the alien in front of us.

  My back hit the moist wall behind me and I tensed. We were as good here as anywhere else, assuming these things couldn’t command the vines to wrap around us. I didn’t know how it all worked, so it was hard to say, but I knew the claws were the biggest threat, so that’s what I kept in my line of sight.

  The bug moved to the right. The thing’s exoskeleton was the same color as the eyes, so it was hard to tell for sure, but I swear its gaze shifted. I kept close to Daisy while the alien moved back and forth as if trying to decide where to put the man. It seemed nervous. Unsure. Like it didn’t know what we were up to and it was trying to figure us out. Not if I had anything to do with it.

  It set the man down and began to slide its claw from his body.

  “I’m going,” I hissed out of the corner of my mouth.

  I saw Daisy’s mouth drop open, but I didn’t look at her long enough to try and guess what she was thinking. Instead, I focused on the alien and took a deep breath, waiting for the perfect moment.

  It happened only a second later. The alien removed the claws completely and I jumped, throwing my body at it as hard as I could. I slammed into its side and the bug screeched as it lost its footing and fell over. Outside the cage something buzzed, but it was quiet and far away, and I didn’t tear my gaze away from the one under me to know where the sound was coming from. The bug was fighting, trying to flap its wings as I twisted my body until I was on top of it. I straddled it’s back and forced the wings down. My legs tightened on its body as I dug my heels into the torso and reached for the clawed leg. The bug flailed, trying to get at me, but I was too far back.

  “What do I do?” Daisy called.

  “I need the leg,” I grunted.

  I managed to get a good grip on its leg, cringing at the slick feel of the alien’s skin. The other leg swung up and I reared back just in time, the claw missing me by inches. I dug my heels in tighter, desperate to hold on.

  That’s when Daisy moved. She jumped at the other leg, landing on top of it before it could swing it at me again. She had it pinned down, putting all her weight on it while I pulled at the one in my grip. The alien screeched and somewhere in the hive another one did the same, but no bugs came to the aid of the alien underneath me.

  I twisted the leg up toward the alien’s face, aiming the claw at the center eye in hopes that it was the softest part of the creature’s skull. My fingers threated to slip when he pulled against me, and in one desperate move I put all my weight into it and jerked the leg toward its face.

  The claw sank in just like I’d hoped. The alien screeched and black blood sprayed across the floor of the cage, coating the leaves. It fought harder, managing to throw Daisy off, and when it flailed the claw on the creature’s now free leg sank into the skull of the man it had just dragged into the cell. Blood sprayed across the leaves and Daisy let out a shriek. The creature pulled the claw from the man and tried to swing it around, but I was still on its back, so I shoved the claw further into its head.

  The body under me went slack and dropped to the ground. Daisy leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath as she stared at the body in disbelief. I slid off the now motionless bug as more buzzing echoed through the hive. There were still no other aliens in sight, but I knew we didn’t have long. We had to move.

  I yanked the alien’s claw from its head and twisted it toward the leg that had killed the man. The talons were as long as my forearm and so pointed at the end that I was positive I’d be able to use it to cut glass if needed. The top of the claw was smooth, but the bottom was slightly jagged like a serrated knife. That was the part I needed.

  “What are you doing?” Daisy asked when I shifted.

  “I’m going to saw the legs off so we can use the claws.”

  The hum of the aliens’ outside the cage grew louder, but I ignored them and pressed the claw in my hand against the leg on the ground. Daisy grabbed the claw and held it still while I took a deep breath. Then I started sawing it back and forth. It didn’t take long for the exoskeleton to crack open, and I had to work hard not to equate the black stuff that seeped out with blood. I didn’t feel guilty about killing this bastard, but that didn’t mean the gore sat well with me.

  I was shocked to discover that these things didn’t have bones in their arms like we did. Once I was through the top part of the exoskeleton, cutting through was easy. My progress slowed again when we got to the bottom of the leg, but all I had to do was press harder and the claw broke through.

  Daisy sat back and lifted the now separated claw, staring at it in awe. Black dripped from the part we’d just cut into and I was sure it wouldn’t be long before the thing started to stink, but I didn’t care as long as it helped us get the hell out of here.

  “Let’s get the other one off,” I said, shifting so I was holding the leg down.

  Daisy repeated what I’d just done, cringing when blood sprayed across her legs. In less than a minute though, she’d made it all the way through and we each had an alien claw in our hands.

  “What now?” she asked.

  I swallowed. “I hadn’t thought that far.”

  I didn’t tell her that was because I hadn’t really thought this would work, but she had to know why I’d only thought as far as using the claws. In five years we’d never met a single person who had wrangled with one of these assholes and lived to tell about it, so why the hell did I think I would be any different? I hadn’t, but I’d also known that I needed to try. Thank God it had worked out.

  “It’s a long way down.” Daisy had moved to the edge of the cage and was peering out.

  I scooted over so I was next to her. She was right. It was a good fifty foot drop, meaning if we wanted to get down there we were going to have to climb down the vines. It seemed highly unlikely that we’d be able to get to the ground without drawing attention to ourselves though, especially with the hum of the aliens’ wings growing louder by the second.

  I twisted so I could see the wall of foliage above us, but that was even higher. It towered so far above our heads that I didn’t even want to venture a guess as to how far up it was, and even then it disappeared into the clouds, making it impossible to know exactly where it ended.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  Daisy turned away from the edge of the cage and peered at the wall of greenery at our backs. “What about cutting through?”

  That was an idea. Our knives had never been useful in penetrating the vines these aliens had brought to our planet, but they hadn’t been able to cut through the exoskeletons either. Not like the claws we now possessed had.

  “You’re a genius,” I said
as I scooted over to join her.

  She was already hacking away at the vines by the time I got there, and right away I could tell she was right. The claws sliced through the vegetation like butter, taking out big chunks at a time. I joined her, digging the claw in as deep as I could before drawing it to the right, cutting a line across the vines. We had no idea how thick this wall was, but I knew these things could get big, and I was prepared to have to cut through several inches.

  We were a foot in when the buzzing got closer. The hole we’d carved out was only big enough for one of us to squeeze through and we hadn’t even made it to the other side yet. I started hacking harder. The aliens that had been awakened by our scuffle were heading our way, and I had no doubt in my mind that the creatures would soon swarm us. At my side Daisy slammed her claw into the wall too, just as hard as I was, each of us grunting from the effort.

  My claw broke through first, but hers was right behind. She beamed and I tried to return it, but I couldn’t. Not with the increasing buzzing in the hive and not when the opening was no bigger than my fist.

  “Get back,” I said, pulling myself into the hole so I could chop at it more successfully.

  I was flat on my stomach as I slammed the claw into the vines with one arm and punched at it with the other. The hum had reached a crescendo that made the hair on my arms stand up, and I knew we were running out of time. I poked the claw through one more time and then jerked it to the side as hard as I could, and the vines that stood in the way of our freedom gave way.

  “I’m through!” I called and started pulling myself forward.

  “They’re coming!”

  Daisy’s terrified voice made my heart thump manically. I pulled myself faster and wiggled my legs to propel my body forward.

  “Daisy, come on!” I called before I’d even reached the other side.

  I could feel her breath on my legs as she dove in behind me. I worked hard not to kick her in the face as I wiggled forward, but when my heel hit something solid and she grunted, I knew I’d failed. I used my arms then, pulling myself the rest of the way through. It wasn’t until I was halfway out of the hole that I realized I’d never thought about what lay on the other side.

  I fell, the claw dropping from my hand as I put my arms out to brace myself. We were a good six feet up, which wasn’t far if you were prepared or falling feet first, but I had neither advantage. My hands hit the ground, my palm slamming into the wet, uneven foliage, and I felt something in my left shoulder give way with a painful pop. I screamed, but it was cut off when the rest of my body slammed into the ground.

  Daisy was right behind me, tumbling down and landing on top of me in a mangled heap of arm and legs and pain. She rolled off and scrambled to her feet, and I tried to do the same but found that my arm wouldn’t cooperate. It wasn’t the same feeling I’d experienced when injected with the alien’s poison, but an intense throb that felt like my arm was no longer where it was supposed to be. I rolled onto my side and worked to get myself up with my good arm, and it wasn’t until I was on my feet and the throbbing in my shoulder intensified that I accepted what had happened. My shoulder was out of its socket.

  “Shit,” I hissed as I tried cradling the arm against my body. A pain that was almost blinding pulsed through me, growing even more intense when I tried a different angle. No matter how I tried to hold my arm, the pain didn’t ease. It throbbed through me until it threatened to drag me into darkness. I exhaled and tried to focus. I couldn’t pass out. I wanted to, almost as desperately as I had when the bug had pierced me with its claws, but if I did I would be dead for sure.

  “What’s wrong?” Daisy’s hair was a tangle of knots and leaves.

  “My shoulder,” I said, breathing through the pain and dizziness.

  There weren’t a lot of options available to me. We had to get moving and we had miles and miles of road to cover. If those assholes showed up, I had to fight.

  “Let me see,” Daisy said, reaching for me.

  I jerked away, too afraid of the pain if she touched it, which only made the throbbing worse.

  “Forget it.” I scooped the claw up off the ground with my free arm, trying to ignore the intense throbbing in my shoulder. I could only hope that adrenaline would carry me forward. “We have to move. Now.” Daisy started to protest, but I shook my head and gave her a push. “We need to put some distance between us and the hive before they realize what happened to us.”

  This time she didn’t argue.

  We took off at a trot, jumping over vines and leaves and flowers and other plants. Every step made the pain worse and I had no idea how I was able to stay on my feet, but somehow I managed. The trees towered over us the way skyscrapers used to tower over cities, their trunks massive and smooth. The rain continued to fall just as it had inside the hive, meaning the terrain wasn’t just uneven, but slick. We passed poisonous flowers by the dozens, keeping our distance the best that we could. It wasn’t always easy because there were so many of them, though. If we made it out of this alive, it would be a miracle.

  The throb in my shoulder grew and intensified, but I worked to block it out, hoping the adrenaline that had gotten me this far stuck around enough to get me back to the settlement. Assuming it was still there. I had no idea if our plan had been successful or if the bugs had broken through the walls anyway and swarmed the building.

  “Before I got to the hive,” I huffed out as Daisy and I moved through the forest. “Did you see anyone other than the soldiers who ran out when we did?”

  “No—” She let out a breath. “—I think our plan to draw them away worked.”

  “Thank God.”

  We kept moving until the darkness began to give way to light. The aliens hadn’t come after us even though I knew they had to have discovered their dead friend by now, but I had no idea what that meant. If they were planning something else, if they were letting us go, if they’d pop up in the city before we made it back, crawling out of the crater at the end of our street. There were a million different scenarios, none of which I was prepared to face considering the constant pain in my shoulder.

  Daisy stopped next to a building that was wrapped in vines, breathing heavily. Her hair was soaked and sticking to her head, but even with the rain coming down I could tell she was sweating as heavily as I was.

  “We need to rest,” she gasped.

  “This is as good a place as any.”

  I studied the building at her side. The claws would help us get in, but it was impossible to tell where the door had been. The greenery was so thick that someone who’d never been to this planet before the invasion would have no idea a solid structure had once been here.

  Daisy mumbled that she agreed before moving toward the building. I didn’t tell her that I was in too much pain to help, but I knew I didn’t have to. The curses that sprang from my lips every few seconds had to give me away. The throbbing in my shoulder had gotten more and more intense, and it had now reached a point where I felt certain I was going to pass out. So much for adrenaline getting me through.

  She hacked away while I sank down and leaned against what I assumed was a vehicle that had been swallowed up by vines. What I wouldn’t give to have a car right now. To be able to lie down in the back while Daisy drove us home. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes when a wave of nausea rolled through me. Not that I had anything in my stomach to throw up.

  “Almost there,” Daisy called out.

  The sound of the claw cutting into the vines mixed with her grunts and the ping of raindrops against the trees and vines, all of it working together to make my head spin. I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to block everything out, but it was impossible. The pain was almost as intense as when the alien had its claws in me.

  Daisy’s voice broke through the darkness that covered my vision. I was on the ground next to the vine-covered car. The rain was coming down harder, pelting me in the face, and I sputtered when I opened my lips to respond, only to get a mouthful of water.<
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  Daisy grabbed my good arm and pulled. “Come on. Let’s get inside.”

  I stumbled over my own feet or vines or debris that had managed to not get swallowed up by the greenery. I wasn’t sure which; I just knew that my legs felt like cooked noodles.

  “Let me help you.” Daisy tried to put my good arm around her shoulder, but just that simple movement made me cry out. She released me and held her hands up. “What can I do?”

  I shook my head and tried to cradle my arm, which only made me curse again. “I don’t know.” I swallowed “The claw.” I waved to the ground because I had no clue what had happened to the alien’s claw that I’d been carrying. “Don’t leave it.”

  She nodded and then was gone, and I was once again leaning against the car. I held onto it and moved toward the door that was just visible through the vines Daisy had hacked away. I had tunnel vision. Everything was green in the center while the walls of my vision had turned black. I had to get inside. Had to sit down before I fell down and hurt myself even more.

  I kept my eyes on the door, focusing on it as I walked, putting one foot in front of the other. My legs wobbled and I grasped at air, trying to find something to grab onto. Trying to find a way to stay upright. I could make it. I could do it.

  The toe of my boot caught on something and my legs wobbled. My fingers curled around air as my legs gave out and I fell. I was still staring at the door when I hit the ground, and the pain that shot through me was so bright and intense that I was sure I’d been shot. I let out a scream and tried to roll onto my back, but that was only worse.

  “Diana!”

  Daisy’s voice came from far away, nothing more than an echo on the wind that I was sure wasn’t real. I reached for her, but my fingers only found wet foliage. Slimy vines and wet moss that stuck to my hand. I tried to push myself up but the pain knocked me on my ass. I may have cried out, but I couldn’t say for sure because the blackness was taking over and for once I wanted it to.